Thursday, November 25, 2010

I think I've mentioned before that my church class goes to the Ronald McDonald house on the 4th Tues. of the month to serve dinner to the folks who are staying there. We all really enjoy doing this and the gal that coordinates always does a wonderful job of coming up with good menus that will appeal to most everyone. This week we took soups (& a very nice variety I must say) plus salad, rolls, crackers and desserts (of COURSE!! LOL).

Every month on our appointed night, the therapy dogs come as well. I really look forward to visiting with and petting all the dogs that come (probably as much if not more than the kids!). I always intend to take pictures but then forget--will tonight, I DIDN'T forget! So here are the dogs in attendance this week...

This precious little girl is Marble--she is the sweetest little miniature Schnauzer and such a pretty color. She always comes all dressed up in the cutest costumes. She was all ready for Christmas!!

This handsome fellow is Rory. He's a Gordon Setter (I believe I have that right) and is so friendly and always happy for any attention you can spare. He was wiggly and all over the place so I was lucky to get this good of a picture!!

These two big guys are Titan and Boomer. Titan is a great dane (a small one, I'm told at 130 lbs.) and Boomer is a Brazilian mastiff. They're both such loveable big old teddy bears. The folks who own Rory also own Titan plus 3 other dogs and currently have 2 foster dogs (golden retrievers). WOW, I can't imagine that dog chow bill. LOL!

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

We have had the most GORGEOUS weather of late and I have been enjoying it immensely. I am NOT a cold weather person so as long as we can avoid it, I'm one happy camper. But the cold is barrelling down on us and will hit us HARD on Thanksgiving Day! That should be our first freeze. Sure hope we have a milder winter than last. It was SO COLD!

Many think here in N. Texas that we don't have a lot of pretty fall foliage. Well, on just a quick trip this am to drop off my DGD, I snapped a couple of photos to prove we actually do! Now granted, it's not like fall in New England but we do get some pretty colors here, too.

Now, I need to keep my eyes peeled for some of the beautiful golds & yellows and try to get pix of them before the freeze knocks all the leaves off the trees.

And today is my anniversary! DH and I have managed to stick it out for 30 years!! We were supposed to go on our trip to England this year and had it all planned but then wound up having to cancel for medical reasons (my DS's, not one of us). So that'll hopefully happen NEXT year and I'm kinda looking at a couple of different destinations. We'll see......

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

They're not very good cause I forgot my camera and had to use the iphone but here they are anyway!!.....

This was Jill's pretty quilt. I think she said she made it for her sister or SIL.

Ooo, Diane's pretty fall leaves quilt. This was a BIG puppy! Love it!

Susan's pretty finish. This was the $5 BOM a year or so ago. I did the same colorway but do you think MY blocks are anywhere near a finish? NO, of course not!! LOL Susan's motivated me though.

And this was Brenda's 'aggravating' quilt. She did it as a BOM from somewhere and said the instructions were TERRIBLE. She said she really had a helluva time getting these blocks made and several had to be hand stitched (course that wouldn't have bothered me). But it really came out lovely.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

On my last day in Houston, I took Pam Holland's journal quilt class. I was so sad I hadn't planned on staying the entire day--there were only like 10 in the class!!! Talk about one on one assistance with your designing..MAN!! I had only planned to stay until lunch and then head out. She has so many cool ideas and is an incredible artist. Her sketch books were phenomenal! Above are a few of her little journal quilts and then there's "American Gothic". LOVE IT! The little Chicago quilt--those letters are printed on watercolor paper. Who'd a thunk it? Not me, for sure!! The little dove (sideways) has an actual dove feather stitched onto the quilt. And the quilting she does on the quilts, even the littlest, is so fantabulous! Her "American Gothic"--on the back, for some reason, she has bandaids on the old man and old lady's faces. TOO FUNNY! I came out outta there with a great start for my own journal quilt. Now to just find the time.......

Sunday, November 7, 2010

I took the "Pictorial Applique" class with David and it was fun. I believe he said this was only his second class to teach in Houston and I think he did just fine. I do, however, really like Karen Buckley's method of applique better as David uses freezer paper and 'paints' the edges with starch the turns over and irons. I find the freezer paper (one layer) is not really stable enough and you can get pointy curves and not as precisely turned edges.

This was the project I worked on. There were two choices--the hummingbird or a penguin. I, like most others in the class working on the hummingbird, only got like 4 or 5 pieces appliqued on. I wasn't real crazy about David's method of applique..using the ladder stitch. I've tried it in the past and didn't like the results so I just used my usual method. It works good for me. He recommends 50 wt. 2 ply and Karen recommends 60 wt. I really like the 60 wt. but bought some of the brand that David recommends to try out.

This is his adorable goat (forget the goat's name) but the quilting was AMAZING!! It was really funny to hear how he works and selects all his fabrics and starches/irons all the pieces.

Friday, November 5, 2010

I LOVE Karen! She does the most awesome applique, she's beautiful and a wonderful teacher!! She had her Midnight Floral Fantasy on a magazine cover several years ago and when I saw it, I KNEW it had to be our guild's next raffle quilt. I contacted Karen and she said ABSOLUTELY! It turned out gorgeous and we were able to raise a tidy sum. I took her 'Magical Medallions' class yesterday and received a ton of fantastic tips and tricks. Here's what we were working on...

WHOA! When I received this pattern in the mail a few weeks before Houston, I'm thinkin' "WHAT have I gotten myself into?!!". But she had so many neat hints to help make this a little easier that I think I can do it! YAY! (but we'll still wait and see--LOL). Her original pattern had twelve blocks like this and a big ole center medallion. But she had done four blocks and made it into a cute little wallhanging.

These last two were just another two of her designs. It amazes me how she has all those little circles SO evenly spaced in the circles and outside edges of the one on the left!!

Today my class is with David Taylor and we're working on a hummingbird. Will post more about that later.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Top left is Wings and Feathers by Mark Sherman, made for his daughter (AWWW!!) then Circles of Life by Linda French. Middle left is Jeepers..It's Jane by Beth Schillig (didn't even look like a DJ at first glance but so pretty) and then The Coming of Spring by Mariko Nakano. Last row is Inspiration Draws from Nature's Art by Patricia Delaney and Silhouettes by Carol Taylor. More tomorrow on my wonderful class with Karen Kay Buckley (she's so FABULOUS!).

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

I arrived in Houston this afternoon with my bud, JoAnne. I had access to the "VIP preview" which started at 5pm. All the 'regular folks'--LOL--got to come in at 7pm. My plan was to be leaving as they were flooding in and I just about made it. I took a quick run through the quilts, taking lots of photos, then over to the vendors. I've already picked up a few items. I'll post a few pix over the next few days (I downloaded way over 100!!). Tomorrow, I take a class with Karen Kay Buckley and will post a few from that. So here are just a few of the quilts to whet your appetite...

Top left--the church--is by Louise Perrin called Steadfast and Faithful from the "O Canada" exhibit. The top right is from the same exhibit, by Judith Leslie called Early Spring in Banff. Betsy Ross Never Imagined This is the pretty flag crazy quilt by Nancy McLerran and the middle right is Busy Bees & Friends by Karen Eckmeier. Bottom left is Ambrosia by Gina Perkes and then there's Dance of the Butterflies by Deb Layt. More tomorrow!